Ye, formerly Kanye West, has settled his involvement in the copyright infringement with Phase One Network over the use of the Boogie Down Production in his 2021 song “Life of the Party.”
The mogul has been dismissed as a defendant in the lawsuit, according to released court documents by Ye and Phase One Network on August 16. The lawsuit centers around the alleged unauthorized use of a sample from Boogie Down Productions‘ 1987 track “South Bronx.”
Phase One initially sued Ye in November 2022, claiming that “Life of the Party,” which features André 3000 and was included in the deluxe edition of Ye’s 2021 album Donda, used an “exact reproduction” of a melody, along with horns and drums, from “South Bronx.” The album, named after Ye’s late mother, was also released through a handheld audio device called the Stem Player, developed by British tech company Kano Computing. Notably, Phase One has not dropped its case against Kano, which remains a co-defendant in the lawsuit.
In June, Ye’s legal team filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit, arguing that the sample’s use during the creation and experimentation phase of the track, with the intention of contacting the copyright holder for approval, qualified as fair use. They further pointed out that KRS-One, a founding member of Boogie Down Productions, had publicly granted permission for all MCs to sample his work without fear of legal action.
Ye’s attorneys argued that Phase One would need to prove its ownership of the copyright, given KRS-One’s public dedication of his catalog, but this argument was ultimately unsuccessful.
Other Ye lawsuits include a sexual harassment and wrongful termination by a former assistant. The mogul’s ex-assistant claimed that he bragged about his sexual encounters with celebrities. In April, Ye settled a trademark lawsuit with Y.Z.Y, Inc.